50 
Indian Forest Records . 
[Vol. VIII 
The Dehra Dun experiments have shown that, to get really good 
results, heavy sowing combined with hoeing the soil is neces¬ 
sary. On fire-lines the soil is not hoed and clearing the line 
may, or may not, be done in a good seed year. 
Again, fire-lines are cleared throughout in a single operation and 
this encourages the rapid establishment of a heavy growth of 
weeds which swamps the few seedlings which may start 
growth during the first few years. After this the exposure, 
combined with annual burning, hardens the soil and renders 
it steadily less suitable for germination and early growth. 
The Dehra Dun experiments, however, have proved that, 
on a 100 feet wide north-east to south-west fire-line which 
has been cleared for 8 years, excellent seedling growth can 
be obtained if the soil is dug and the weeds removed. 
(d) In many of the sal forests now under consideration the younger 
age-classes are usually well represented, and it is sometimes 
argued that:— 
(1) any attempt to introduce a method of concentrated regeneration 
will entail an unjustifiable financial sacrifice caused by 
felling immature crops or by keeping trees in the forest beyond 
the age of maturity which are on areas not under regenera¬ 
tion ; 
(2) we need do no more at present than endeavour to bring this exist¬ 
ing crop to maturity by means of suitable sylvicultural treat¬ 
ment, in the hope that young growth will eventually establish 
itself naturally in the future as it has done in the past. 
As regards the financial sacrifice, however, it should be remembered 
that financial loss must be incurred unless mature trees are felled as 
soon as they become mature, and this cannot be done unless seedling 
growth is already available, or can be immediately established, to replace 
the felled trees. At present, it may be that the areas carrying mature 
or nearly mature trees with no seedling growth to replace them now 
on the ground are relatively small, but these areas and the consequent 
financial sacrifice under this head are likely to steadily increase in the 
future. It is probable that most of the young growth now in existence 
in the forests originated during, or shortly after, an era of more or less 
frequent fires. Whether this is so or not, however, we do know that at 
present practically the only way of obtaining seedling growth under 
shade is by burning off the annual leaf-fail and that this also is a very 
slow process. There is, therefore, little doubt that in areas where scarcity 
of labour or other conditions render it impossible to adopt the far more 
rapid method of artificial sowings in clear-felled areas (for which concen- 
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